What's up with Jehovah's Witnesses; They dont Celebrate holidays, and don't allow Blood Transfusions?

Question

I work with several Jehovah's Witnesses at work and have noticed several odd things about them at work such as they don't celebrate holidays, have arranged marriages, and do not allowed blood transfusions.

Please do not use this opportunity to bash this group; I am truly interested in these questions and want to learn more about them so we can work more efficiently.

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses do not generally have arranged marriages, although they do not believe the practice to be unscriptural.

Jehovah's Witnesses respect blood because the bible plainly tells Christians to do so.
...(Acts 15:20) Write them [the various Christian congregations] to abstain from things polluted by idols [the meat of which likely contains blood] and from fornication and from what is strangled [the meat of which likely contains blood] and from blood.
...(Acts 15:28-29) For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols [the meat of which likely contains blood] and from blood and from things strangled [the meat of which likely contains blood] and from fornication. If you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper.


Jehovah's Witnesses practice strict political and nationalistic neutrality, so they do not celebrate nationalistic holidays such as Independence Day and Memorial Day.

Other holidays derive from false religion, and so are incompatible with pure worship as adulterating interfaith. For example, Easter derives from the pagan god Oestre and celebrates "rebirth" and "fertility" instead of commemorating Christ's Last Supper and death as Jesus commanded:
(Luke 22:1-22) [Jesus] dispatched Peter and John, saying: “Go and get the passover ready for us to eat.” ...14 At length when the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them: “I have greatly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it again until it becomes fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ... Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”

Seemingly innocuous holidays may have only a tangential connection with false worship, such as Mother's Day and Father's Day (although arguably derived from ancestor worship). Understated observance of these is not generally considered interfaith by Jehovah's Witnesses, but it is too easily misunderstood in some cultures.

Since such celebrations are not required in true worship, and can easily become a distraction, so Jehovah's Witnesses focus their attention elsewhere. In particular, they are focussed on the preaching work which *IS* a requirement for Christians:

(Luke 10:1-17) [Jesus] the Lord designated seventy others and sent them forth by twos in advance of him into every city and place to which he himself was going to come. 2 Then he began to say to them: “The harvest, indeed, is great, but the workers are few. Therefore beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/20050101a/article_01.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/rq/index.htm?article=article_11.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20001215/article_01.htm

Answer 2

Jehovah's Witnesses accept other alternative treatments to full blood transfusions. It is not the case of have blood or die every time a doctor thinks a transfusion is called.

Even non Jehovah's Witnesses are recognising the safe alternative treatments to blood. Bloodless treatments are gaining popularity since the dangers of blood transfusions are always present. Screening is not always effective.
If a person who died from the ailments resulting because of infected blood transfusion was publicised as much as the relative few Jehovah's Witnesses that had stood firm against blood and died I can assure you the worry of taking blood would be a lot higher.
There are alternative treatments to blood and doctors and surgeons have come a long way in the development of bloodless medicine and surgery. I knew a few people in my own congregation that have refused blood when normally it would be used in surgery and they are alive and doing well. One even had a kidney transplant the donar was his own mother who is a Witnesses too.

Do not take for granted critisism of Jehovah's Witnesses there are people who menacingly wish to ensure that people do not find the real truths. Ask Jehovah's Witnesses themselves because if anyone is going to know they will and they would be happy to explain to you sincere questions about their beliefs.

Or go to the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses at http://www.watchtower.org
Blood and medicine at http://www.watchtower.org/e/vcnr/article_01.htm

Please be aware of other sites that claim to be "watchers" of the Watchtower and Jehovah's Witnesses. These sites are designed to be misleading about the faith and the content is styled to alienate rather than inform in attempts to draw people away from the real truth about what Jehovah's Witnesses are and their beliefs. Such apostate sites are valueless and intimidating.

Answer 3

@ bar.... has told us, "The Bible says nothing about "rank-and-file" Christians removing those who take the lead. Rather, it counsels obedience to those "governing" us. (Hebrews 13:17) Any member of the governing body who became spiritually corrupted would be removed by the same process that any other Witness who becomes spiritually corrupted is removed." First it is not biblical but then it is biblical, sounds like normal Watchtower double talk. They have finished now with "New Light" as there has been too much of it, now the "Light is getting brighter" is how they are getting new information. When science makes new discoveries, this somehow allows the Watchtower to re-translate, "Abstain for blood" to have new meaning and allow some factions of blood to be injected, but the translation still denies the injecting of other factions. Just like their history of what is and is not allowed, they can not tell you from one minute to the next what the current rules are. Here is the Watchtower’s history on the issue of blood # 1940 Blood transfusions are acceptable # 1945 Blood transfusion are not acceptable # 1956 Blood serums should be treated as blood and are banned # 1958 Blood serums and fractions acceptable # 1959 Storage of own blood unacceptable # 1961 Blood fractions are not acceptable # 1964 Blood fractions are acceptable # 1974 Blood serums are personal choice # 1975 Hemophilia treatments (Factor VII & IX) are not acceptable # 1978 Hemophilia treatments (Factor VII & IX) are acceptable # 1982 Albumin is acceptable # 1983 Hemodilution is acceptable # 1990 Hemodilution is not acceptable (Blood Brochure) # 1995 Hemodilution is acceptable How could they know what is current??

Answer 4

You are correct Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate pagan holidays

Is there any objection to sharing in celebrations that may have unchristian roots as long as it is not done for religious reasons?

Eph. 5:10,11 "Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord: and quit sharing with them in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness, but, rather, even be reproving them."

2Cor.6:14-18: "what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Be'lial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God's temple have with idols?..."Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves.," says Jehovah the Almighty."

You are also so correct when you say Jehovah's Witnesses do no take blood

Christians are commanded to "abstain from blood"

acts 15:28,29; "The holy spirit and we ourselves adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled amid from these things, you will prosper. Good health to you"

There the eating of blood is equated with idolatry and fornication, tings that we should not want to engage in.

ARRANGED MARRIAGES: NO THIS IS NOT CORRECT YOU MARRY THE PERSON THAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU NOT THE PERSON SOMEONE ELSE SAY IS FOR YOU.

Answer 5

I am a Jehovah's Witness I can tell you anything you need to know or want to.
Lesson 11

Beliefs and Customs That Displease God

What kind of beliefs and customs are wrong? (1)

Should Christians believe that God is a Trinity? (2)

Why do true Christians not celebrate Christmas, Easter, or birthdays? (3, 4)



1. Not all beliefs and customs are bad. But God does not approve of them if they come from false religion or are against Bible teachings.—Matthew 15:6.

3. Christmas and Easter: Jesus was not born on December 25. He was born about October 1, a time of year when shepherds kept their flocks out-of-doors at night. (Luke 2:8-12) Jesus never commanded Christians to celebrate his birth. Rather, he told his disciples to memorialize, or remember, his death. (Luke 22:19, 20) Christmas and its customs come from ancient false religions. The same is true of Easter customs, such as the use of eggs and rabbits. The early Christians did not celebrate Christmas or Easter, nor do true Christians today.

4. Birthdays: The only two birthday celebrations spoken of in the Bible were held by persons who did not worship Jehovah. (Genesis 40:20-22; Mark 6:21, 22, 24-27) The early Christians did not celebrate birthdays. The custom of celebrating birthdays comes from ancient false religions. True Christians give gifts and have good times together at other times during the year.



Lesson 12

Showing Respect for Life and Blood



What is God’s law on blood? (5)

Does this include blood transfusions? (6)

5. Blood is also sacred in God’s eyes. God says that the soul, or life, is in the blood. So it is wrong to eat blood. It is also wrong to eat the meat of an animal that has not been properly bled. If an animal is strangled or dies in a trap, it should not be eaten. If it is speared or shot, it must be bled quickly if it is to be eaten.—Genesis 9:3, 4; Leviticus 17:13, 14; Acts 15:28, 29.

6. Is it wrong to accept a blood transfusion? Remember, Jehovah requires that we abstain from blood. This means that we must not take into our bodies in any way at all other people’s blood or even our own blood that has been stored. (Acts 21:25) So true Christians will not accept a blood transfusion. They will accept other kinds of medical treatment, such as transfusion of nonblood products. They want to live, but they will not try to save their life by breaking God’s laws.—Matthew 16:25.


To please God, we must avoid blood transfusions, unclean habits, and unnecessary risks

feel free to email me if you have any more questions on blood and holidays or of other things.
Hope this Helps!
Oh and the only restriction on marriage is Marry only in the Lord
A wife is bound during all the time her husband is alive. But if her husband should fall asleep [in death], she is free to be married to whom she wants, only in [the] Lord---1 Corinthians 7:39
so not arranged marriages, you must misinformed
We do use doctors and other bloodless options(there are alot)

Answer 6

We don't accept blood transfusions, and don't partake in pagan holidays such as Christmas, because it violates our Christian consciences.

I have no idea what you mean about arranged marriages.

Answer 7

Thanks for such a sincere question!

Jehovah's Witnesses take the Bible seriously. They feel that it should guide everything they do in life. (Psalm 119:105) However, most religions professing to be Christian have adopted many unscriptural teachings and traditions. Perhaps you have heard of the origins of Christmas, Easter, and so forth. These celebrations, and most other "Christianized" holidays have their roots in pagan Roman religion; these celebrations cannot be found in the Bible.

I suppose I could rant on and on about the history of Christianity, but I'll sum it up. After the death of the last apostles, false teachings and doctrines crept into the Christian congregation and started spreading. (Acts 20:29, 30; 2 Timothy 4:3) A few centuries later, Roman Emperor Constantine declared the apostate Christian congregation as the official Roman religion. Previously, Rome worshipped false gods such as Saturn, Eastre, Cupid, and so forth. To make the transition to "Christianity" easier for the populace, Roman celebrations and teachings were grafted into the new "Christian" religion, giving birth to the Roman Catholic Church. A number of centuries later, different groups began rebelling against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Among these groups are Protestants (protesting Catholic teachings), Anabaptists (later became known as Baptists), Lutheran, and so forth. Although the splinter groups rejected some Catholic teachings, they kept other teachings and traditions of the church. Hence, nearly all religions today professing to be Christian have retained some of those traditions and teachings that originated in pagan Rome.

Jehovah's Witnesses, through a serious study of the Bible, have come to the certain conclusion that these teachings and celebrations should be no part of a true Christians worship to God. Remember, it was Jesus that said we should not 'set aside the commandment of God in order to retain tradition'. (Mark 7:9; Matthew 15:3) Jehovah's Witnesses strive to worship God in truth, (John 4:24) and the truth is, no mention of these holidays can be found in the Bible. The only day that the Bible tells Christians to remember is the death of Jesus. (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:25, 26)

In regards to blood transfusions, the Bible says much about how God views blood. Throughout the Bible, we see how that God views blood as sacred -a symbol of life- and that it should not be used in any way except for atonement for sin. (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:10-12; Deuteronomy 12:23-25) The first century Christians were commanded to "abstain from blood". (Acts 15:20, 28, 29) True, blood transfusions are not mentioned in the Bible as they did not exist back then. But the Bible principle to "abstain from blood", and the fact that God forbids the use of blood for anything other than atonement, provides the reason for one to "abstain from blood".

That's not to say that one of Jehovah's Witnesses, if severely injured, will sit there and die. There are many available alternatives to a blood transfusion. Volume expanders, iron supplements (or other growth factors), intra-operative or post-operative blood salvage, and a others. In many cases these have proved better than blood transfusion in the fact that the healing process is much quicker (blood transfusions temporarily weaken the immune system).

Jehovah's Witnesses love life and do not want to die. However, if it comes to the point where they must chose between disobedience to their heavenly Father or death, they remember the words of Jesus Christ, who said; "Whoever wants to save his soul [or life] will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for my sake is the one that will find it". (Luke 9:2) and also "Prove yourself faithful even to death and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10)

Sorry for the long comment, but I feel it may be helpful in seeing things from the viewpoint of one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I hope it was helpful. You may also find helpful information on the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses at www.watchtower.org.

P.S. I have never heard of any of Jehovah's Witnesses having an arranged marriage, if this happens to be the case, it is likely in a country where such things are common. Of course, if such a thing were to take place, Bible principles would be followed by both the husband and the wife. My wife and I did not have an arranged marriage. We met, fell in love, and have been married for 3 1/2 years.

Answer 8

We do not have arranged marriages AS a religion.

If one comes from a culture where arranged marriages are the norm, the local Witnesses may do the same. But they'd make sure the marriages were approved by God.

EDIT: MarLo- as you say, you were in 8th grade. I doubt Travis' family or doctors told you ALL the details of his case.

Jehovah's Witnesses are not against medical care. We have loads of physicians among our ranks, and we do no desire to die.

We are just not for medical practices involving the misuse of blood and spiritism.

Answer 9

I am not sure which JW you are talking about but the ones I know and have grown up with, (family) have NEVER had an arranged marriege, EVER..

Also, you are as strange to them as they are to you for celibrating holidays and having a blood transfusion..

It is easy to explain about the holidays. God/Christ is more important then people getting things once a year.. Christmas would be his birthday and a time for you (meaning all of us) to get new ski's or a DVD player.. Or our birthdays. We are here to thank God/Christ for being alive, and not to get things..

Blood transfusions are a little harder to explain. But mostly it comes down to for the most part not safe, so they don't..

Answer 10

I am one of Jehovahs Witnesses (JW) and I will try to explain our stand as best and as briefly as I can.

Firstly, to correct one small misunderstanding, JW dont normally arrange marriages . I am married and our marriage was not arranged. I have friends who are JW from around the globe and I have never heard of anyones marriage being arranged (although customs do vary from country to country - so I might be contradicted here).

Next issue you raised was holidays. Again, a point that should be noted is that not all holidays are objected to - only those that either misrepresent the bible or those that contradict principles explained in the bible. For example - take Christmas. If you were to do a simple search using Yahoo/Google - and type in the phrase "Christmas Origin" - you will see that Christmas has very little (other than the name) to do with the bible . In fact most scholars agree that Jesus was not born any where near December 25th and that the celebration was actually based on the pagan god Saturn.

As an example - just take the case of the 3 wise men. The bible actually says those wise men were actually astrologers (Magi) from the east. (Matt. 2:1, 2,) Although astrology is popular among many people today, the practice is strongly disapproved in the Bible. Would God have led to the newborn Jesus persons whose practices He condemned?Matthew 2:1-16 shows that the star led the astrologers first to King Herod and then to Jesus and that Herod then sought to have Jesus killed. So the star was actually putting Jesus life in danger. No mention is made that anyone other than the astrologers saw the “star.” After they left, Jehovah’s angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt to safeguard the child. Was that “star” a sign from God or was it from someone who was seeking to have God’s Son destroyed? Note that the Bible account does not say that they found the babe Jesus in a manger, as customarily depicted in Christmas art. When the astrologers arrived, Jesus and his parents were living in a house. As to Jesus’ age at that time, remember that, based on what Herod had learned from the astrologers, he decreed that all the boys in the district of Bethlehem two years of age and under were to be destroyed.—Matt. 2:1, 11, 16.

I suppose the question could be asked - does it matter as long as our intentions are noble? The bible is very clear on keeping worship of God clean according to HIS standards - not ours. Compare Exodus 32:4-10. Notice that the Israelites adopted an Egyptian religious practice but gave it a new name, “a festival to God". But they were punished for not worshipping him in the manner he had stipulated. It should be noted the early Christians (who you think would have known the facts rather than the tradition) did not celebrate these holidays either.

Now to the blood question - it should be noted that of the 10,000's of medical procedures available to doctors, only one is rejected - blood transfusions. Also with the advancement of medical science it is an issue that is becoming less contentious.

But abstaining from blood is not something that JW have picked out of the air. And none of us wish to be martyrs. But I believe that God who gave me life in the first instance has the right to determine how I use my life. The bible is very clear on God's stand on how all blood should be treated once it left the body. (The command was first given in Genesis 9:3,4 reiterated to Moses in the law at Lev 17:11-12 and stated again to the early christians Acts 15:28-9). Incidentially, the Romans would use blood sausage as a means to identify early Christians. They would make everyone eat blood sausage knowing the only group who (under pain of death) would refuse to partake would be the Christians who knew the bible command to abstain.

But is a transfusion the same as eating blood? In a hospital, when a patient cannot eat through his mouth, he is fed intravenously. Now, would a person who never put blood into his mouth but who accepted blood by transfusion really be obeying the command to “keep abstaining from . . . blood”? (Acts 15:29) To use a comparison, consider a man who is told by the doctor that he must abstain from alcohol. Would he be obedient if he quit drinking alcohol but had it put directly into his veins?

There is a wealth of information available of all of the above issues but I have tried to simplify as my typing speed is so bad it has taken me 30 min on just the above (with some cutting and pasting thrown in as well). Perhaps the best people to ask these questions would be your work colleagues? or if you rather keep this discussion out of the work place - ask a JW the next time you are called on at your home. Only a suggestion

Regards